Finally, the day was here – the first day of Lent Bumps and the first Bumps ever for most of our crew. Buzzing with excitement and anticipation, we paddled down to the marshalling point with the knowledge that Caius would be chasing us. As the 1 minute cannon sounded, Alice (our cox) and Clare (our coach) reminded us to keep our heads in the boat before pushing us off. Before we knew it, the start was upon us, and we leapt out of the start at an unbelievably powerful rate 44! A somewhat dodgy cox-box (and admittedly the sight of Caius slowly closing in) got in the way of our stride, with us only managing to settle on rate 37, but we held on as well as we could. Eventually, the whistles started to sound and the excitement got the best of us. Caius bumped us and we pulled in to congratulate them and catch our breath before paddling home. Our first taste of Bumps as a crew was over, and while we had been bumped, we rowed well, and were ready to take on the rest of the week with a clearer head.
Anastasia Price, bow